Florida Will Soon Be Third Most Populated State, Overtaking New York

For all the ways the rest of the nation loves to make fun of Florida and act as if it's the worst place on earth, it sure as hell isn't keeping people from moving and living here.

And, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau population estimates that will be released on Monday, Florida will soon become the nation's third-most populous state -- leap frogging New York in the process.

And this isn't just a question of "if" it'll happen, but "when" it'll happen. But, yea, keep on pretending how you hate us so much, America!

According to the research, it looks like Florida will be overtaking New York in the ranks sometime next year, or 2015.

From April 2010 to July 2012, Florida's population grew 2.7%, according to census data. In the same period, New York's grew 1%. The national average was 1.7%. Last year's census estimate had the two states virtually neck and neck: New York's population was just under 19.6 million, only about 250,000 higher than Florida's.

Much of the decline in New York has come from manufacturing jobs dwindling in places like Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse.

Meanwhile, Florida has seen a steady growth thanks mainly to what's always brought people to our state: real estate, construction, and tourism.

Medicine and finance is also a big reason, according to studies.

And, of course, the big one: immigration.

But the main reason people are moving down here in droves from up north is that, in case you haven't noticed, there's pretty awesome weather down here.

One of the biggest news items in the last few weeks has been how the rest of the country has been freezing their balls off while Florida has been basking in warm, crisp weather.

And warm weather is the biggest motivating factor for people packing up and taking off. California and Texas -- two warm weather states -- remain number 1 and 2 in population.

So expect to see more people from Chicago moving to Florida. And then expect them to pretend how they hate it so much here and how Florida is so dumb while they uproot their entire families to find their own piece of paradise inside our state.